Ergenekon

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New
York, March 11, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release
this week of five Turkish journalists who were imprisoned after being
sentenced to jailin connection with the controversial Ergenekon case. Three of the
journalists--Yalçın Küçük, Deniz Yıldırım, and Merdan Yanardağ--were convicted
because of their work, according to CPJ research. In the cases of Tuncay Özkan
and Hikmet Çiçek, CPJ had not been able to establish a connection.

For
the second year in a row, our prison census
shows, Turkey
jailed more journalists than any other country. The number of journalists
behind bars is 40; down from the 61 reporters in October 2012, and less than
the 49 we recorded on December 1, 2012. Still, Turkey
holds more journalists in custody than Iran, China, or Eritrea.

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Dear Prime Minister Erdoğan, as an independent international press freedom advocacy organization, we are concerned about the continued press freedom crisis in Turkey. We believe the government's failure to safeguard press freedom undermines the great strengths of your nation.

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Istanbul,
August 7, 2013--A Turkish appellate court should overturn the convictions of
numerous journalists who have been convicted in connection with Ergenekon, a
broad anti-government conspiracy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
today. The journalists were convicted on flawed penal and anti-terror laws that
conflate news coverage and commentary with terrorism.

Today, hope for peace between the government
of Turkey and Kurdish rebels is closer than ever to becoming reality. A
resolution to the conflict, after more than 30 years, could have ramifications
for Turkey's standing as the world's worst jailer of journalists. According to CPJ research, three-quarters
of the journalists imprisoned in Turkey are from the pro-Kurdish media.

Istanbul, December 28, 2012--Turkish authorities on
Thursday released Soner Yalçın, owner and publisher of the ultranationalist-leftist
news website Odatv, from prison for
the duration of his trial, according to news reports. Yalçın, who has been
jailed since February 2011 on anti-state charges, could be re-arrested and
jailed if he is convicted.

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1. Summary

The Committee to Protect Journalists prepared this report to highlight the widespread criminal prosecution and jailing of journalists in Turkey, along with the government’s use of various forms of pressure to engender self-censorship in the press. CPJ’s analysis found highly repressive laws, particularly in the penal code and anti-terror law; a criminal procedure code that greatly favors the state; and a harsh anti-press tone set at the highest levels of government. Turkey’s press freedom situation has reached a crisis point.

2. Assault on the Press

Nuray Mert, one of Turkey’s most prominent political columnists and commentators, had a long history as a government critic, but in the view of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, her comments last year opposing administration policies toward ethnic Kurds went too far. Erdoğan lashed out with a personal attack that implied Mert was traitorous, setting off a torrent of public vitriol—including threats to her safety—and prompting her politically sensitive bosses to cancel her television show and newspaper column.

3. The Anti-State Prosecutions

Journalist Ahmet Şık found himself behind bars for writing a book that was not even published. So explosive was the subject of The Imam’s Army that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan likened it to a bomb. Şık was probing too far into one of the most influential and underreported forces in modern Turkish politics—the Gülen movement.